Title: Public venture capital: missing link or weakest link?

Authors: Thierry Rayna, Ludmila Striukova

Addresses: Internet Centre, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, 180 Queen's Gate, London SW7 2AZ, UK. ' Department of Management Science and Innovation, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

Abstract: The aim of the article is to examine whether venture capital trusts (VCTs) meet government|s expectations and help solve the problem of underinvestment in young companies. In order to do so a survey of companies that were funded by one of the VCTs, the Oxford Technology Trust (OTT), was conducted and the results of this exploratory study are presented in this article. VCTs are compared to two recent government initiatives that also target the lack of investment in young firms. Finally, an attempt is made to assess the effectiveness of VCTs, in particular and such policies, in general.

Keywords: venture capital trusts; VCT; equity gap; business angels; start-ups; enterprise capital funds; ECF; London Technology Fund; LTF; UK; United Kingdom; public venture capital; government expectations; underinvestment; young companies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2009.024590

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2009 Vol.9 No.4, pp.453 - 465

Published online: 10 Apr 2009 *

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